Bundesliga satellite and cable broadcasting deal in the works

German pay-TV operator Premiere is talking with Deutsche Telekom about extending a deal to allow the broadcaster’s customers to see Bundesliga matches also over satellite and cable.
 
Premiere and Deutsche Telekom struck an agreement last week that will allow Premiere customers who have a broadband Internet connection from Deutsche Telekom to see Bundesliga games using a special set-top box connected to their television sets.
 
"Telekom and Premiere have always made clear that according to the tender, pictures can also be transmitted via cable and satellite in IP-Standard," Premiere CEO Georg Kofler told Reuters. "We're allowed to do that."
 
Premiere would make Bundesliga matches available to 3.5 million customers through T-Online’s ADSL2 and VDSL infrastructure. Hence, Premiere customers would require a T-Online IPTV set-top box, the T-Home X300T.
 
According to telecommunications specialists Ovum, "about 50 percent of Premiere customers are said to also be DSL subscribers - and 80 percent have Internet access. Applying the national market share Deutsche Telekom enjoys in the retail space, it is fair to assume that most of Premiere’s subscribers with DSL are T-Online customers."
 
Arena, a cable company, spent significantly more money than Deutsche Telekom to have access to the traditional television viewers via satellite and terrestrial TV.
 
According to Ovum, "there is the potentially bitter taste this arrangement might leave with DFL, public broadcasters and the regulator. DFL specifically opted for Arena, declining a higher offer by Premiere, with the intention of making football games more widely available."
 
Premiere said the partnership was for the next three seasons and that more details soon would be revealed. Neither side disclosed financial details.

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